![\"From](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/04\/564px-Bill_of_Rights_Pg1of1_AC.png\")
<\/a>Earlier this year, I participated in a conference on religious freedom and related subjects in Uzbekistan. \u00a0One of the others who attended and presented there was Shima Baradaran Baughman<\/a>, who was born in Iran and who is now Woodruff J. Deem Professor of Law at Brigham Young University. \u00a0I\u2019ve been impressed by an essay that she recently published in the Deseret News<\/em>, not least because of the somewhat dramatic personal family story that she tells in it: \u00a0\u201cPerspective: The Constitution is not partisan \u2014 it protects us all:\u00a0Having seen life without constitutional rights, I know why people across the world still long for America\u2019s freedoms.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n And here is another<\/em> article from the Deseret News<\/em>, written by President Dallin H. Oaks, formerly professor and interim dean of the law school at the University of Chicago, former president of Brigham Young University, former associate justice of the Utah Supreme Court, and, of course, currently First Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: \u00a0\u201cPerspective: Our inspired Constitution: The U.S. Constitution is the foundation for a well-ordered government of laws, and not of men.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Apropos<\/em> of these two Deseret News<\/em> articles, I call your attention to three additional items:<\/p>\n I think it worth reproducing here the full and complete text of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States:<\/p>\n Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The reference here is to Congress<\/em>. \u00a0(Not coincidentally, Article 1 of the Constitution is about Congress, not about the Executive Branch or the Presidency.) \u00a0However, I do not believe that, by saying that \u201cCongress shall make no law. . . \u00a0abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press,\u201d the Framers were intending to tell us that, while Congress<\/em> may not make such a law<\/em>, the executive branch of the Federal Government is<\/em> at liberty to abridge free speech or freedom of the press at will, without<\/em> such a law, by either real or threatened litigation or by presidential fiat or by imperial decree.<\/p>\n I wrote yesterday about a Patheos blog in which it was suggested that the assassination of Charlie Kirk may have been orchestrated by Mike Lee, John Curtis, Mitt Romney, and Spencer Cox. \u00a0Apparently, though, the execrable Candace Owens believes that Benjamin Netanyahu and the Jews were behind it. \u00a0(I cannot bear the thought of watching the entirety of her video in order to get the precise details down. \u00a0Life is short, and then we die.) \u00a0But inquiring minds want to know: Why couldn\u2019t the conspiracy have been a joint<\/em> effort of Cox, Curtis, Lee, and Romney, acting in concert with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Rothschilds, and the infamous Elders of Zion? \u00a0Why does it have to be an either\/or? \u00a0I see no reason for these theories to be in competition with each other.<\/p>\n Many years ago, I watched a black-and-white documentary video that, unfortunately, I\u2019ve been unable to find again for your edification. \u00a0In it, the video\u2019s creator scientifically recreated the sinking of RMS Titanic<\/em> in his home bathtub, using tiny metal ship models and ice cubes. \u00a0He was able to demonstrate thereby, to his satisfaction, that the conventional explanation for the sinking of the Titanic<\/em> is unsustainable and that, therefore, the Jews did it. \u00a0But that<\/em> video, I think, was a satire.<\/p>\n While we\u2019re on this theme, by the way, I found this article interesting. \u00a0It appeared in the Jewish Journal<\/em>, and it\u2019s actually somewhat more interesting than its title and subtitle would suggest: \u00a0\u201cWhy Jews Make Such a Big Target for Haters: The problem is that the haters never stop reminding us that we\u2019re different, and in the anatomy of hatred, difference is the lead virus.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n These new items went up yesterday on the perpetually unchanging website of the Interpreter Foundation:<\/p>\n Interpreter Foundation Come, Follow Me Podcast September 22 \u2013 28: \u201cThe Order of the Son of God\u201d Doctrine & Covenants 106\u2013108<\/a><\/p>\n For the 4 September 2025 Come, Follow Me<\/em> segment of the Interpreter Foundation Podcast, Terry Hutchinson and Martin Tanner discussed the Come, Follow Me<\/em> Doctrine & Covenants lesson for September 22 \u2013 28 covering D&C 106\u2013108. \u00a0The Discussion segment of the 4 September 2025 podcast can be accessed at https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/interpreter-podcast-september-3-2025<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Come, Follow Me<\/em> \u2014 D&C Study and Teaching Helps (2025): Doctrine and Covenants 106\u2013108: September 22 \u2013 28: \u201cThe Order of the Son of God\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Once again, Jonn Claybaugh comes through with a concise set of notes for teachers and students of the Come, Follow Me<\/em> curriculum of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Undeniable photographic evidence<\/a> continues to mount, documenting the obliteration of the sky above Cody, Wyoming, and the complete obscuring of the surrounding mountains, by a Latter-day Saint temple that is being built there. \u00a0Having reached its full height, the temple now looms menacingly over that once-lovely metropolis \u2014 thus fulfilling prophecy<\/a>. \u00a0(To avoid any misunderstanding, please note that the very tall line that emerges from the cupola of the temple in at least one of the photographs is not actually part of the building but is, rather, a construction crane.)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 Earlier this year, I participated in a conference on religious freedom and related subjects in Uzbekistan. \u00a0One of the others who attended and presented there was Shima Baradaran Baughman, who was born in Iran and who is now Woodruff J. Deem Professor of Law at Brigham Young University. \u00a0I\u2019ve been impressed by an essay […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":38675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[39173,39161,3286,5724,39170,782],"class_list":["post-112892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-candace-owens","tag-charlie-kirk","tag-constitution","tag-free-speech","tag-pam-bondi","tag-utah"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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(Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a>